My Anything That's True
by cdawn1022
Summary: Alternate "coming out" story to my My Coma 'verse. JD and Perry are sick of sneaking around. Oneshot.


I'm messing with my own canon because why the hell not. This is sort of an alternate to My Midnight Kiss, but all the backstory up until then is the same. It doesn't make much difference in the main My Coma story, so pick your favorite.

A quote from 8.03 inspired me: "I will gladly admit to anything that's true." -Dr. Cox

Cox POV

His hands were all tied up in my hair, and mine were fumbling with my jacket buttons. His breath came out in short bursts that he'd given up controlling. I finally got my jacket off my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. I was getting started on his scrub top when we were rudely interrupted by a sharp knock.

"Bambi," the voice said. "Elliot needs your help with a diagnosis."

My boyfriend shut his eyes in exasperation. "Yeah, Carla, I'll be right out."

"You really shouldn't lock the door, Bambi. People might think you're up to something naughty in there."

"I wish," he grumbled as he straightened his clothes. He looked at me apologetically and pulled me in for a wonderfully drawn-out goodbye kiss. I closed my eyes despite my better judgment, letting myself get lost in it one last time-

"Bambi!"

"Coming, coming," he called, letting his fingers linger on my arm as he crossed the room to leave.

"By the way, have you seen Dr. Cox?" I heard Carla ask once he got out into the hallway.

"No. Nope. Not at all," JD stammered.

This hiding was gonna kill me.

I pulled my jacket back on and sat down on the bed. It'd been almost four months exactly since we'd gotten together. The sneaking around was fun at first, but it was getting a little exhausting. And frustrating. There were unaware cockblockers at every turn - not to mention that I couldn't even lay a hand on his shoulder without odd looks. But I had to protect him. Who knows what people would do? I could handle anything people decided to throw - figuratively or literally - but I wasn't sure he could.

I opened the door just a crack to make sure nobody was watching, and slipped out of the on-call room quietly. Of course Carla happened to walk back at that exact second.

"Oh, hey, Dr. Cox. I was looking for you, I guess I just missed you a minute ago."

If you told me a year ago that Carla would one day be as oblivious as Barbie, I would have laughed in your face.

"Oh, yeah, I just. Lost my cellphone," I replied. "I was in here earlier, thought it might be…" I trailed off.

"Too bad," Carla answered. "Did you find it?"

I held up the phone silently and made a beeline to the nurses' station to fill out some forms, unsure of how many more excuses I could think of. Not that the one I had was good in the first place.

"Wait, Dr. Cox!" Carla called after me. "I wanted to talk to you - JD's birthday is coming up."

"Week and a half," I replied automatically. Oops.

That made Carla stop short. "You know when his birthday is?"

"Course I do. He won't shut up about it," I said quickly. It wasn't really a lie, to be honest.

"Well, I thought you could do something nice and not yell at him for the whole day. Do you think you could handle that?" Carla asked in a tone that made it clear this was not a request.

"I suppose," I said as gruffly as possible. Not like I already got him orchestra seats to Les Mis and a custom-made unicorn plush. It would be nice to let my guard down for one day.

"Promise?" Carla asked sternly.

"Yes, dammit," I responded. "Any other ridiculous requests?"

"No, that's all," she said smugly. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I think he's been seeing someone," she added.

"Is that so?" Damn Carla. Maybe she wasn't as clueless as I thought.

She looked a little surprised. "I thought he would've told you. He tells you everything."

I gripped the pen I was holding a bit harder than necessary. "Guess he's been… uncharacteristically quiet on this one. How do you know, anyway?"

"I dunno. Just a feeling. He's been really happy for the last few months. Glowing."

Willing myself not to blush, I shrugged, walked into a patient's room, and just started talking.

It wasn't even my patient.

JD POV

I sighed as I sank deeper into the couch. My birthday party had been… average; it was hard to enjoy myself when the person I really wanted wasn't there. Carla had graciously offered to clean up the apartment by herself after Turk got called in to the hospital.

She finally flopped down next to me. "That was fun, huh?" she asked through a yawn.

"Yeah," I responded.

"Seemed like you could've been enjoying yourself more. You didn't look interested in the girls Turk tried to set you up with."

I shrugged.

"I think you're seeing someone," she accused, grinning. I blushed and started tapping my feet anxiously.

"You ARE seeing someone!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

I practically jumped up from the couch, unable to be still. "It's… none of your business, okay? God, Carla."

I went into my room and slammed the door. I pulled out my phone to reread the text from "P."

 _Of course you can tell her if you really want to. Just make sure you know what you're doing._

And the one directly below it.

 _I love you._

I heard footsteps make their way to my door.

"Bambi, come on, why won't you just tell me-"

"Carla-"

"who she is?!"

My hand shook as I pressed the lock button and put my phone back in my pocket. Not tonight. I just couldn't do it.

But I couldn't take it anymore.

"Because it's not a she!" I shouted.

Silence.

"Oh, Bambi. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

I swung the door open, interrupting her. "I know. It's okay."

She looked up at me with sad eyes. "Why didn't you say something? You know we love you no matter what, right?"

"Yeah, I just…" I paused. "You… you know how Turk is with this stuff."

Her expression changed immediately. "I'll kill him for you," she offered, sounding worryingly sincere.

A corner of my mouth tugged up. "I don't think that's necessary."

Her face mimicked my half-smile. "Okay, maybe not. But if you tell him, and he puts ONE toe out of line-"

"Thanks, Carla," I interrupted, feeling unexpectedly emotional. She smiled and tilted her head to the side.

"I do love you, Bambi. You can tell me anything. When you're ready."

I bit my lip nervously. She reached up to kiss my cheek.

"Now get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Those text messages suddenly felt much heavier in my pocket.

Cox POV

I was relieved to see Newbie smiling at me as he sauntered up to the counter I was working at. Hearing about his confrontation with Carla the night before had put me on edge. I hated to think of him spending his whole shift carrying that stress; he had enough already.

Apparently, I didn't need to worry. He put his phone down and it buzzed a few seconds later, the screen showing _Text Message from: Carla_. He reached for the phone, but jerked his hand back upon seeing the name.

Maybe I did need to worry.

"How're you doing?" I asked quietly.

"I lied when I texted you last night, when I said I didn't want to tell her," he blurted in a whisper. "I just got nervous. She knows I'm dating a guy, but that's it."

Oh, Jesus Christ.

"But you don't have to worry, I'll be fine and nobody knows still," he continued. "Your reputation… safe." He looked up at me for approval.

Now there was a revelation. I practically heard a record scratch in my head. "Is that what you think?"

"...What?"

"That I'm embarrassed by you or something. Why do you think I said it was okay for you to tell her? I'm okay with it. Really."

"Then why did you want to sneak around?" His confused expression kept getting deeper.

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't me I was worried about."

Realization crossed his features. "You wanted to protect me? Oh my God." He giggled and picked up his phone.

"Gonna tell her now? ...Over text?"

His fingers froze on the screen.

"I… I want people to know. To stop sneaking around. But I don't think I can do it."

I stood up straight from my hunched-over position. "Then I will."

"You? Face Carla when she finds out her two best friends are dating and she had no idea?" he asked incredulously.

I shrugged. "I'll let her figure it out. Let something slip. She'll practically think it was her own idea when I'm through. I just have to find her."

We turned around together, only to narrowly avoid running into Carla's shocked face. JD's mouth opened and closed three times - how many times had the kid been speechless in his life?

"You… and you?" Carla could barely get any words out. "How long?"

"Three months," I replied.

"Four in, uh, eight days," JD interjected.

Carla turned to face me directly. "You're not even gonna try to deny this? Just let the entire world know?"

"I'll admit to anything that's true," I said simply. "Really, it's a relief - I'm tired of sneaking around."

She was still processing when Kelso came over to pick up some paperwork and a muffin. Oddly enough, he took no notice of JD's position against me. However, Carla took notice of _that_.

"And you're not the least bit surprised by this, Bob?" she asked, gesturing to us.

"Hmm?" he said through a bite of muffin. He swallowed. "Oh, them? Was that supposed to be a secret?"


End file.
